Make That Four

Fires, that is.

The Royal Gorge Fire forced the evacuation of prisoners from the Colorado Territorial Correctional Facility; the prisoners were moved to other prisons. (I was wondering what they'd do with them - it takes a long time to plan and move prisoners.)  The suspension bridge is rumored to have been spared, though three structures have been lost to the fire.

The Black Forest Fire, near Colorado Springs has destroyed a multitude of homes and forces thousands to evacuate. 

The Big Meadow Fire is the one closest to us, and was started by lightning on Monday.  Usually, naturally-caused fires in remote areas are allowed to burn, but they're doing what they can to knock it down.

The Klikus Fire is the smallest of the four at 50 acres, but it also has forced several evacuations.

I have lots of friends, real-life and blog, who live in those areas and pray that they are safe.

If you feel moved to help the firefighters and people who have been displaced from there home, visit Help Colorado Now to make a donation.  I try not to solicit donations too often on the blog, but after three years of fires, I'm beginning to feel helpless.  Even the cost of one coffee will help.  Thanks.

Update: Once Upon An Equine was evacuated from her home about six hours ago :(

I Swear I'm Developing PTSD

We've got three, count 'em, THREE big fires burning right now.  All of them started today.  The late snow we got last month only delayed the onset of fire season by a couple of weeks.  Once Upon an Equine is uncomfortably close to the fire, let's hope the winds stay in her favor.

I tell you, I think we need to change our tourism tactic.  Let's come up with a new motto.  Something like, "Come to Colorado and watch it burn!".  Catchy, no?

And to think that just this week, I was marveling at our lovely weather and the fact that the farmers had already started their first cuts a couple of weeks early.  I was so happy to see that the hay prices were coming down and it looked like things were looking up due to our late snows.

But the snows might have been too little, too late.  At least for some parts of the state.

If you could, send up a prayer for the families who are impacted by the fires and prayers to keep our fire crews safe.

Thanks.

No More Anxiety

Well, less anyway.

We got rain!  Enough of it hanging over the fire that the estimated containment date got moved up from July 30th to July 15th to this weekend!

Now if we could just get some rain to Colorado Springs...

Feeling A Little Anxious

You know, I'm fairly well prepared for the Zombie Apocolypse, but I am not at all prepared for the spontaneous combustion of my state.

Found this floating around Facebook. I'd give credit,
but I have no idea who created it.

With the lightning-strike fire now blazing away just west of Boulder and Colorado Springs on fire, it seems like Mom and Bill's canyon is about the only one NOT on fire.  While the High Park Fire, northwest of Fort Collins is the biggest fire in the state, the Waldo Canyon fire, west of Colorado Springs is the highest priority fire in the nation, according to the news.

Here's a slide show of the active fires in Colorado.

Mom and Bill have an evacuation plan, and we've shared it pretty much every fire season since we started blogging.  Essentially, the plan is to tag the horses with the Lodge's phone number and slap them on the ass...let them fend for themselves.  We're not the only livestock owners who are prepared to "cut fence", as several of the evacuated families did just that. 

We're fairly certain that the horses will be able to fend for themselves if they can move away from the fire.  In fact, several of the animals whose owners cut fence in the High Park Fire have found the rescuers on their own.

This horse "parked" itself at one of the fire trucks.

Ellie, the donkey, is credited with leading her herd to help.
She walked up to a firefighter and buried her head it the
firefighter's chest.

Of course, turning the horses loose is our last resort.  If we're lucky enough to get pre-evac orders (if, God forbid, there's a fire), we can haul them down to my Grandma's property.  Bill assures me he can remove the dividers in their 3-horse trailer and turn it into a stock trailer that will haul all four horses.  Estes and Ranger are small, they won't take up a whole heap of space.

Colorado's not the only state having a hard time right now - it seems all across the nation bad things are happening: tropical storms, monsoons, tornadoes, fire.  Hell, it must be an election year.

So if you're the praying type, send up a prayer of thanks for all of the firefighters and their families who are sacrificing so much right now just to try to keep us safe.

Fire Quote of the Day

Our previous two fires had been "accidental" fires caused by stupidity.  This fire occurred the day after a crazy lightning storm.  This morning, officials declared the cause "lightning".

In class, we were talking about the fire - just to get it out of the way so the students could focus.

Student: I hope they find the bastard who started this one!
Me: You mean Mother Nature?
Student:  Oops.

So. We're On Fire. Again.

Not too much to say about our third fire in approximately four weeks, other than it's huge.

20,000+ acres.

Zero percent contained.

Yeah.

Sucks.

Here's more information on it.

It's about 15 miles due west of us, but looks a lot closer.  One of my co-workers received a mandatory evacutation order about two hours ago.  We're safe from the fire, but rapidly getting sick of breathing smoke and ash.

Elbutts would be appreciated for the firefighters and pilots helping to fight the fire.

Burn, Baby, Burn!

The fire's now up to more than 7,500 acres, but doesn't seem to be threatening any structures.

With that in mind, let me tell you what I think...

Let 'er burn.  Backfire a perimeter a ways out, monitor it, and let it go.  At this point, we're using up valuable resources and putting more than 500 firefighters, helicopters and an air tanker at risk trying to get it under control.  After four days of burning, they still have less than 5% containment.  I feel like backburning a perimeter is more of a proactive than reactive approach and in the long-run will cost less.  And you can't tell me that the flame retardant they're dropping isn't bad for our lungs (I know I totally sounded like a tree-hugger right there, you'll have to forgive me).

We know that fires can be good, otherwise we would not use controlled or prescribed burns.  We regularly ride in areas that were "devastated" by fire and the regeneration is astounding.  And...other than a long, cold, deep freeze, it's the only way to control the damn beetles that are killing our trees right and left.  The beetle kill, along with the dry winter, has set up some prime fire areas.

Letting the fire burn isn't all moonlight and roses though, the downside is the air quality pretty much sucks right now.  I feel for people with respiratory issues or allergies.

What do you think?  Let 'er burn or douse her?

Sleeping by the Camp Fire

It's finally warm enough to leave the bedroom window open at night to bring in the fresh, cool air.  But for the last few nights, my sleep has been disturbed each time the wind shifted. Each shift of the wind brings in a few lungfuls of campfire smoke, normally a very relaxing smell.  When you're camping.

When you're asleep in your own bed and you get a whiff of campfire, it tends to jolt you.  So for the last few nights, I've breathed in the campfire smoke, come partially awake and then gone back to sleep when I remember that there's a fire raging out of control in the foothills northwest of me.

It started Monday afternoon and grew steadily.  No structures have been threatened and the wildlands firefighters were working their butts off.

On Tuesday one of the firefighters was taken to the hospital for second degree burns caused by radiant heat.  Not burned by the fire, but burned by the hot air caused by the fire.  It had grown to 1,000 acres, but still no structures were threatened; residents were put on pre-evacuation alert in case the wind shifted.

Wednesday, the fire continued to grow.  The wind shifted and I saw ash falling from the sky.  A friend in Cheyenne wondered why it smelled like a campfire up north.  Cheyenne is a good fifty miles from the fire and they're noticing smoke.  The fire grew to 3,000 acres.  More firefighters and air support were called in.

Today, the fire is over 5,000 acres and we've got over 400 firefighters doing their best to make some headway.  My side of town is covered in what looks like fog, but is, in fact, smoke.  I'm forty miles away from the fire; I can't imagine what the poor folks in Poudre Park, one mile from the fire, are feeling like.

My eyes are on fire, my sinuses are full of snot trying to fight off all the debris in the air - and I'm a healthy person. I can only imagine the misery that people living closer to the fire or who have respiratory issues or allergies are feeling.

Picture of the fire from Tuesday
(THE DENVER POST | RJ Sangosti)

We've got helicopters and planes flying overhead, making it a surreal experience.  With all of the smoke and debris and air support, it gives me the chills.  Gives me a very small inkling of what it would be like to live in/near a war zone.

My Apologies, Mother Nature

Dear Mother Nature,

I apologize for blaming you for our wildfires.  It wasn't your fault.

While I'd love to see some moisture to help with the wildfires, I understand why you allowed the fires to burn so quickly.

People are stupid. 

One fire was started by a volunteer firefighter and the other by two people burning brush without a permit.  I get that people are stupid and screwed up, but do you think that we might have some rain to help put the fires out?  No sense continuing to punish the people who had nothing to do with their neighbors' stupidity.

Sincerely,
She Who Puts Her Foot In Her Mouth

Really, Mother Nature? Really?

Dear Mother Nature,

We had an agreement: once Labor Day passed, we were home free as far as fires go.

This year, we made it all through the summer without one. single. fire.

And then came Labor Day.  I breathed a sigh of relief, thinking we were out of the woods.

Boy, was I wrong.  The Fourmile Fire burned (and is continuing to burn) 6,400 acres; it's only 73% contained and has burned 166 structures.  I'll give you the Fourmile Fire, as it started on Labor Day, and our agreement was once Labor Day passed we were home free.

Today, however, was completely uncalled-for.  700 acres west of Loveland and not a bit contained.  Really?  Today is *clearly* a violation of our agreement.

Who the hell peed in your Cheerios?  Can't you just smite the person who pissed you off and get on with it? 

The rest of us are tired of breathing in smoke and worrying about how fast the fire is moving and which of our friends is next to be evacuated.

So, really, just smite the person you're pissed at and be done with it already bitch.

Sincerely,
Fed up with fires already

The Sky Is Falling!!!

Well, not exactly, but a good portion of the mountains south east of the Lodge is on fire.  Over 7100 acres have burned, including 92 structures and one fire truck.

This is what I fear every year - wild fires.  I thought we were almost out of the woods without one single fire in our little piece of paradise until yesterday.  The Fourmile Fire has grown like crazy and there was another, smaller fire in the Tahosa Valley, just a couple of miles from the Lodge.

The smoke from the Fourmile Fire is visible on satelite...

Scary stuff...